The parallel between video games and Hollywood blockbusters has not gone unnoticed by lovers of popular culture everywhere. Indeed, Prison Break star Wentworth Miller has recently confirmed that he will be starring in the Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which hits our screens in 2016.
The film comes as the sixth installment in the Resident Evil franchise, which had humble beginnings on the PlayStation in 1996. While the movie franchise was critically panned, it was a hit with fans of the video game and served to prove just how well video games guts and gore can translate onto the big screen, and vice versa. Indeed, with the rise of online gaming, games developers are turning to horror themes more and more, for example, you can now find ghost-themed slots games.
While the future may lie in online gambling however, the past has given us some pretty impressive offerings in the video game movie crossover market. Here’s a look back at some of the best (and worst) horror themed video game movies over the years.
Resident Evil
Love it or hate it, there’s a reason that the Resident Evil franchise has stood the test of time. The original film first hit the cinemas in 2002, and though it sparked controversy when a supermodel was cast in the lead role, (Milla Jovovich) it certainly packed a punch. This was not Jovovich’s first acting role – she had also starred in The Fifth Element five years previously, but with a far larger role, she certainly got to show off a bit of girl power.
Silent Hill
Akin to the aforemetioned Resident Evil, Silent Hill first burst onto the scene in the late 90s for PlayStation, but rather than focusing on just blood and guts, it also had a disturbing underlying psychological element. The film, however, chose to amplify the visuals and made a very convincing case for more guts and gore – though it may not have been loved by critics, the 2006 adaptation ticked the boxes for fans of psychological horror in an era in which the Saw franchise rocked.
Saw
Things started out so well for the Saw series, which saw us all wincing in horror back in 2004 as Dr Lawrence Gordon slowly cut off his limb with a rusty hacksaw. Nevertheless, producers were certainly flogging a dead horse by the time the seventh installment was released, and the movie’s merchandise, including the critically panned Saw: The Video Game, did not go down too well either. The console game gave users the chance to get themselves out of traps by solving complex puzzles. With some of the gore but none of the disturbing storylines however, this one just didn’t make the mark.
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